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Old 04-01-2007, 06:57 AM   #1
ftrvin4me
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Why a Monty??

The kids are grown and we are selling it all --- to live our life long dream of being a full time rv'r. We are stuck on two brands, a monty being one of them and would like to know what sold you on this unit for full time living??? How is the manufacturer on warranty issues? and does the artic package really make or break the unit.

We've read a lot here about the tow vehicle and that for us is just deciding on srw/drw 1tn diesel 4x4 --We like the 3400/3500rl and the 3600RE. We also understand that no TV can handle - weather so we will move accordingly. Thanks for any input and btw we were referred to this site from another Keystone site.
 
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Old 04-01-2007, 06:59 AM   #2
Mac
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You're going to get a hundred different answers but in reality you just have to pick the one that feels best for you. Most people on here had a short list but ended up going towards a Monty for their own reasons. We are a little different, we fell in love with a Monty the first time we looked at one and there wasn't another "camper" for us.

mac
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Old 04-01-2007, 09:46 AM   #3
DonandBonnie
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A few years ago we were introduced to the Montana by a salesman that encouraged us to go out and check the competion. Each time we returned, he would compare what we had seen to the Montana. He was always fair in his assesments, never bad mouthed the competition, and was honest if the competition did something better. Unfortunately, circumstances didn't allow us to purchase at that time and sad to say, not all sales people are as fair and honest as he was.

Then we found this forum. If you have any questions of any kind, the people here bend over backward to help you find the answer. Just reading through the various topics is an education in itself. When Montana does good, you will find out about it here. When Montana does bad, you will also find out about it here. You will also find out what Keystone and the dealer does or does not do to make it right.

Just a couple of examples: Richfaa had an electrical problem on his new 3400RL enroute to Arizona for the winter. You can read posts that explain what happened, why it happened, what the dealer that sold the unit is going to do about it and what Keystone is going to do about it. You can also learn what temporary steps were done so that Rich did not have to return for permanent repairs until after the cold of winter.

SKOOBDOO spent the winter in her Montana in Granville, Ohio, near Columbus. Read her posts to understand what living in a Montana through an Ohio winter is really like.

Mac is right, this forum will generate hundreds of opinions and answers, but you can usually sort throught them to determine what's right for your situation. We recently started a topic called "Here's the plan!" to talk about what we are planning to include in our Big Sky. All you have to do is read some of the replies to see the quality of information that the people on this forum are willing to share.

With whatever brand you you look at, make sure that you do your homework. Then you can be assured that your decision will be the best for you.
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Old 04-01-2007, 10:23 AM   #4
rickety
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We researched every brand out there for over 6 months. Many different floor plans, many different prices, many different salesmen,many different lies. We particularly liked our dealer becasue there was no pressure and we were invited to go as far as we wanted into the innards of the unit and they answered all our questions.
We finally settled on the Montana for a number of reasons. We liked the bsement, the floor plan at that time was great for us (3280rl, it was our first fiver and we didn't want anything too big. We liked the kitchen layout, (l shaped, like the 3400rl), liked the dinette and the bedroom. Workmanship as on all RV's will very. But overall it is good!
We have ordered a new 3400RL and expoect it next week. This will kind of give you an idea of how we like the Montana. Many different brands, many opinions, you'll have to make up your own mind and above all be happy with what you select.
Best of luck, God speed
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Old 04-01-2007, 11:05 AM   #5
SKOOBDO
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I started looking at RVs many many years ago, and initially thought I would want a Motor Home for traveling, however, after looking at the negatives and positives I decided to buy a 5th Wheel, which I had only to go camping etc. I decided finally in 2005 that I would be going full-timing and seriously looked at 5th Wheels that I could tow "safely" with my truck. There were many out there that had a GVWR of 16,000-18,000 that would have been too heavy for my truck which is good for about 15,500lbs. I went to every RV dealer in Central, Eastern and Southern Ohio, and it was down to Sunnybrook or Montana units with the rear den and sliding doors. One thing I noticed about Sunnybrook that was a turn off was the fact the door to the toliet room was soooooo cheap the varnish would come off if you finger nail touched the wood around the knob. At every RV show I went to, every Sunnybrook had marks on the toliet room doors from finger nails of shoppers opening and closing the door. I talked to two different reps about it and they told me they would pass it on to the company and as of this date they are still using those doors. None of the shower stalls do not have any built in shelfs to put shampoo etc and to top it off, in 2006 the model I was looking at did not have a "washer/dryer" hookup! but they changed it this year. After hearing recently about a local Sunnybrook dealer in Northern Ohio who stopped selling them in the last few months because of material and workmanship issues, I'm happy that I chose Montana. I've heard good reviews about Sunnybrook, but from my close inspection of those units, the Montana IMHO was a better buy. Good Luck to you!

On Edit: I do have the Artic Package and like the other poster mentioned, I went through one of the Coldest Winter's in Ohio's History where tempartures were in the sub-below degrees for days and weeks on end, and the only thing that happen was my "galley tank" valve froze up. That valve is situated near the tires and is lower to the ground. The other valves are completely enclosed. The valve froze up when the tempartures were 5 below with windchills -20 to -25. Once it thawed I put RV Antifreeze in the tank and used it as usual and no more freeze ups. These units definetly can make it to "Zero" as Montana advertises and more! No water lines froze up and it was WARM and many times too warm By the way, many other units out here including Motor Homes froze up and the folks moved into hotels. You can't go wrong with a Montana as far as I'm concerned. I haven't had any issues (knock on wood) with my unit, and it has NEVER been back to the dealer and a year ago yesterday I picked it up from the Dealer brand new. If you take care of it, it will take care of you.
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Old 04-01-2007, 11:10 AM   #6
gkbutler
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We had lost our TT to a tornado in 2004 while I was in Iraq. While I was home on leave looking to replace it, we came upon a Montana dealer close to where we live. He piqued our interest, but we refused to buy from him because all he wanted was to sell us a unit. The dealership had no service department and was not willing to negotiate.

When I returned to Iraq, I had plenty of time to research the Montana and several other brands of TT and 5th wheels. I just kept coming back to the Montana. When I returned from Iraq, we went to a dealership in Northern Illinois that sold the Montana. We were fortunate to get a salesman who was an RV'er and listened to what we wanted. After we made our deal, he took us to the service department and gave us a tour of the facility, introducing us to the different people in each department.

We bought the Montana because it was the best unit for what we wanted. Keystone and our dealer have stepped up to the plate for several items, the most major was the gray tank that developed a leak while we were in Florida in 05. The service department of the dealership has bent over backward for us with several issues that were really trivial, but were important to us and we couldn't find any help from anywhere.

I don't think you could go wrong with purchasing a Montana product.

Good luck with your search.
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Old 04-01-2007, 11:14 AM   #7
Cat320
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- The Artic Package is necessary if you want the higher "R" values noted in the brochure...it's in the fine print with an *. Virtually everybody gets it, and the cost is not much.

- Keystone is very good about service/warranty issues.

- If you are going to FT it, I'd get the dually...for very little money you get lots more truck.
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Old 04-01-2007, 11:22 AM   #8
Montana Sky
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Why did I pick the Montana? Easy, it just felt like home. Having first hand experience dealing with Keystone on standing behind their product, I know there will be a 3rd Montana in my future.
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Old 04-01-2007, 12:11 PM   #9
Garin1
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Why not???
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Old 04-01-2007, 03:11 PM   #10
hookman
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We have a 2955 on order and after looking for a couple of years we kept coming back to the Montana. We bought a Nash after looking for 5yrs now our needs have changed we decided on this unit for touring. You have to look at what your needs are and decide what suits them.
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Old 04-01-2007, 04:56 PM   #11
dsprik
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It is the best bang for your buck anywhere, period. For FTing especially...
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Old 04-02-2007, 02:06 AM   #12
richfaa
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Our search for a camper was a bit more complicated. First we determined what we could afford. That narrowed the field down to 5 or 6 manufacturers .Understanding that beauty is skin deep we needed to see and understand what was under the skin.Having been a salesperson for campers we have seen many folks walk in look around ..say ..oh we love this model we will take it..without knowing anything at all about it.Great for the salsperson..worst reason in the world to purchase one.We were fortunate to live @3 hours from Elkhart, Ind.. where most all the campers are built. We spent summer vacations for 2 years touring various plants and learning about Quality, workmanship, fit and finish. Next we needed to learn about the reputation of the manufacturers in terms of service, Warranty, Etc then finally the dealer in terms of reputation, service, honesty.Note that to this point brand name has not been mentioned. but after going through the above exercise you may be down to 1 or 2 brands.In our case the dealer of choice handled both of our top two choices. Next floor plan.. The actual brand of the camper was the very last thing that was identified and it jumps out at you as it has satisfied all your needs.Other things that help to decide...Join forums or owners groups of all the brands of interest.Question dealers who carry several different brands and ask which manufacturers give them the best service.Go to RV shows and ask questions, questions, questions.Now why the Montana..It met all the above criteria, Had the floor plan that best suited our needs and..was the best bang for the buck.. I did not say it was the best camper. I am saying that we understood what we were purchasing so no big surprises..it met all our needs, it was what we could afford.. After 112 days on the road and living in it, 12 States and over 6k miles towing we are disappointed in some areas and very satisfied in many others. But...Although there have been failures we are absolutely confident, in fact we have written assurances that Keystome will make our 3400 as good as new. All things considered in the RV industry that justifies the purchase. That is indeed a simplified version but covers the procedure.
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Old 04-02-2007, 05:40 AM   #13
Bob & Lee
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Wed looked at RV's for years at the state fairs and shows.We really liked the TETON but $$$ and heavy really look good and solid. we started to buy a mobile traveler at the state fair in Kansas in 04 the dealer was going to order us the one we wanted after the fair for the fair price, we had not seen a Montana. we wanted to give our local dealer one more try, went to the dealer and told him we wanted a 4 season RV, he said he only had 2 showed us one and we really didnt like it, it was plain and very $$$, he said we just got this one and it was not at the fair. We looked at the 2004 3685FL we walked in and said WOW, We ahd not seen the front LR we had him leave us in the unit, he left and let us look we then desided we wanted this unit. we talked and made a deal and picked it up 10 days later. This past Christmas we were looking not really to buy, at all the brands my wife says as we looked "this can't compare to our Montana" The wood work on the others is not as nice, I want my Montana, This is her opinion of the appearance, I can say the Quality that I have found is great. We have had no problems with our 04, I think they are just like any thing else you buy some are good and some are not same brand like cars you get good and bad. We have just bought our second Montana 3400 RL and so far love it. I think it is what you want and what you expect from any RV. Happy hunting.

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Old 04-03-2007, 07:19 AM   #14
ftrvin4me
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Thank you all for taking the time to give us your input, we really appreciate it. One last question --- do you know what the Montana'a use classification is?
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Old 04-04-2007, 06:21 AM   #15
rono
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What Montana Sky said! We have the 3500RL and REALLY like being able to close the sliding doors and have a 'den' to sit and relax in. Corner work desk and computer area is a plus. Talking with other rv owners and the Montana won out. Our final choice was between an Everest and the 3500RL.
Ron.
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Old 04-04-2007, 09:38 AM   #16
sreigle
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We currently own our third Montana. We have fulltimed for over four years, starting with the second Montana. When we bought the second one, we did look at several other brands but returned to Montana. When we bought the current Montana, we didn't seriously look at anything else. The reasons have to do with how Keystone has handled warranty issues as well as the floorplan and other features. Best bang for the buck pretty well describes it. Six years in a row as the best selling trailer in North America tells me there are many repeat buyers, us included. There must be a reason for that.

There are other good brands that would serve you well, also. But Montana is certainly worth your consideration.
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Old 04-04-2007, 12:30 PM   #17
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by sreigle

We currently own our third Montana. We have fulltimed for over four years, starting with the second Montana. When we bought the second one, we did look at several other brands but returned to Montana. When we bought the current Montana, we didn't seriously look at anything else. The reasons have to do with how Keystone has handled warranty issues as well as the floorplan and other features. Best bang for the buck pretty well describes it. Six years in a row as the best selling trailer in North America tells me there are many repeat buyers, us included. There must be a reason for that.

There are other good brands that would serve you well, also. But Montana is certainly worth your consideration.
Steve...if you were my salesman, I'd be looking for a pen and my check book.
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Old 04-04-2007, 04:15 PM   #18
ftrvin4me
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A 2nd Wow!! to all of you. Thank you so much for providing the responses you have. What a great group of people.

The truck is still a toss up between the Ford/Dodge and the other half who will do most of the driving really wants the locking hubs and extended cab so FORD may be the choosen one --- we have owned both makes before and have been very satisfied with both. It's coming down to the options they have and what will suit our needs.

All the information you have provided really has given us a lot to think about and a lot of insight into what to look for -- quality/construction/overall reliability etc. No matter what we decide we have you all to thank for opening our eyes to the new world of full time living in a home on wheels.

We will be there shortly and hope we have the opportunity to meet you.

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Old 04-07-2007, 06:34 AM   #19
Steve and Brenda
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Simple - take a look at the higher end RV resorts and count the number of Montanas parked there. Ask what the owners of THEIR second RV is and its a Montana. It should speak for itself.
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Old 04-07-2007, 06:58 AM   #20
rvfirefighter
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I have fulltimed (all the time) for 6 years, all in Montanas. We looked for 2 years prior to retirement. When we found the Montana it was the unit for us. The second unit was not a decision, it was getting the price right. I have had problems, more with the newer unit than the first. Most of the problems are quality control and breakdown of options or appliances. I believe that Montanas offer more than other brands and we have been satisfied with our unit.
We went to Alaska this summer, 16000 miles plus with no problems. Other than that it is a personal choice you have to make.
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